Certainly deserving of his nickname “The Rabid Wolverine,” Chris Benoit is known as one of the toughest,
most aggressive competitors in WWE. Benoit got his start training with Stu Hart in the legendary “dungeon” in
Calgary. The dungeon produced numerous other superstars such as Bret Hart, Owen Hart, the British Bulldog and Chris Jericho
to name a few.

Earlier in his career, Benoit wrestled in Japan, ECW and WCW. It was in ECW that Benoit earned the nickname “The
Crippler” when he broke Sabu’s neck. Benoit was part of a group of Radicalz who jumped from WCW to WWE in early
2000 along with Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, and Perry Saturn. Benoit was immediately successful capturing the Intercontinental
Championship within months of his debut at Wrestlemania 2000.

A major setback in Benoit’s career occurred in 2001 when Benoit had to have neck surgery which would put him out
for an entire year. Upon returning, Benoit would set his goals on reaching the top. At this point in Benoit’s WWE career,
Benoit had never held WWE or World Championship gold. In his quest to reach that goal, Benoit entered the 2004 Royal
Rumble as the #1 entrant and defeated twenty nine other superstars to win the Royal Rumble. In an unprecedented move, Benoit
used a loophole and jumped to RAW to fight for the World Championship at WrestleMania XX. In a memorable night, Chris Benoit
defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat Match when he made Triple H tap out to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
After the match, WWE champion and best friend Eddie Guerrero celebrated in the ring with Benoit as the show went off the air
in a WrestleMania moment.

Chris Benoit returned to SmackDown! as the first Smackdown draftee during the 2005 Draft Lottery promising to shake things
up. And within 2 months of this return, the “The Crippler” did just that – making sports entertainment history
at the 2005 SummerSlam, when he defeated Orlando Jordan for the US Championship in just 25.5 seconds – the fastest US
Championship victory in the celebrated 20 year history of the prestigious title.